Namhan or Hanguk?

[Hanada Tattsu]

Well, as part of my Asian History Studies, I've come across native names of many East Asian countries; China being Zhongguo, and Japan being Nihon. However, when coming across South Korea, I noticed, like Japan, that there were two names for the country; Namhan and Hanguk. Unlike Japan, where Nihon and Nippon had the same kanji but Nihon was used more often, Namhan and Hanguk are spelled differently in South Korean.

So, my question is, in South Korea, how do most South Koreans say South Korea? Namhan or Hanguk?

Thank you.

 

[Elizabeth]

I'm not sure, but I believe "Namhan" may be for the South and "Hanguk" for the North (?). At any rate, couldn't the Korean spelling likely be understood in both countries -- unless South Korean actually is technically a separate language (?) which I've never heard of. 🙂